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Collins hoping for better fortunes at home

4/6/14: Manager Terry Collins discusses the Mets' offensive struggles and who will play first base in their next game

By Joe Lemire
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Special to MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- Manager Terry Collins is hopeful that his club can turn around its fortunes at Citi Field as it begins a 10-game homestand.

"We've got to play better at home, which the last two years really kept us from being a team that was in the hunt," Collins said.

In 2012 the Mets were 36-45 at Citi Field and 38-43 anywhere else; last season the splits diverged further, as New York was 33-48 at home and 41-40 on the road.

The 2014 season has barely begun, but the first homestand and road trip have followed the same trend. New York went 2-4 to start the season at home but went 6-3 while visiting the Braves, Angels and D-backs.

Collins reiterated that the issue was addressed in Spring Training and that the home pregame routine was altered to match what's done when the Mets are the away team.

"We're trying to get a little bit more similar to what we do on the road," Collins said. "They're aware that's an issue with everybody, including them, that we've got to play better."

Some of the discrepancy is just circumstance and the opponent, especially in the small sample of the season's first three weeks. The Mets batted .178 with a .597 OPS in those six home games while averaging 3.5 runs per game; on the road the offense had a .257 average and .669 OPS while scoring 5.2 runs per game.

"[During] our first homestand," Collins said, "as we reviewed a lot of the tape, [we saw that] we fouled a lot of pitches off that we should have hit hard -- real hard."

Joe Lemire is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.